snail

snail, name commonly used for a gastropod mollusk with a shell. Included in the thousands of species are terrestrial, freshwater, and marine forms. Some eat both plant and animal matter; others eat only one type of food. Respiration is carried on by gills in the aquatic species; terrestrial forms have a pulmonary sac, or lung, in the mantle cavity. A few terrestrial species have returned to the sea, and consequently must rise to the surface to breathe. Eyes are borne on stalks or tentacles. Many snails, including all land snails, are hermaphroditic, but the majority of the marine species have separate sexes. A snail secretes a slimy path over which it progresses slowly by rhythmic contractions of the muscular base, or foot. Marine and terrestrial snails are eaten in various parts of the world. Snails are considered a delicacy in Europe and were eaten by primitive man and raised for food by the Romans. Certain harmful freshwater species harbor flukes and other parasites that cause disease in humans. Although some land snails cause economic losses by destroying vegetation, even more harm is done to gardens by slugs. Snails are classified in the phylum Mollusca, class Gastropoda.

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snail

Any species of gastropod that glides along on a broad tapered foot and has a high coiled shell into which it can withdraw. Snails are found in the ocean, in fresh waters, and on land. Most marine snails have gills in the mantle cavity (see mollusk). Most land and freshwater snails have no gills; they use the mantle cavity itself as a lung. Snails may be either scavengers (of dead plant or animal matter) or predators. Some species are used as food, and the shells of some are used as ornaments. See also limpet, periwinkle, slug, whelk.

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snail

1. any of numerous terrestrial or freshwater gastropod molluscs with a spirally coiled shell, esp any of the family Helicidae, such as Helix aspersa (garden snail)

2. any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk

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snail [snāl]

(invertebrate zoology)

Any of a large number of gastropod mollusks distinguished by a spiral shell that encloses the body, a head, a foot, and a mantle.

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snail

symbol of deliberation and steadfastness. [Heraldry: Halberts, 38]

See : Perseverance